Relinquished
by Deneuku-san
Summary: AU. Pegasus has a new trick up his sleeve. "G" rated for now, but might go up later.


Relinquished  
  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is the property of Kazuki Takahashi.  
  
Author's Notes: I got this idea from a dream I had. I thought it was cool enough to make an entire fic out of, and I hope you do too.  
  
Yugi was trembling. It wasn't cold, but fear that caused these shivers. He was, once again, in the Shadow Realm, cut off from all of his support, even from Yami, and facing down Pegasus. But this is not a duel. There was no arena, but there was a monster in play.  
  
That monster was Relinquished.  
  
Yugi shed a tear as he watched Bakura uselessly struggle to free himself from the hideous horror's Defense Shield. He was trapped, just as the Dark Magician was trapped the last time Yugi faced this monstrosity.  
  
"I'm sorry.Yugi." Bakura faintly called out. It was drowned out, however, by Pegasus' command: "Pilfered Power!" Bakura screamed in agony as the power for Relinquished's attack was forcefully sucked out of his body. Yugi could only watch helplessly as the Relinquished launched its assault on him.  
  
Yugi woke up with a loud cry. A nightmare.  
  
"Yugi, are you alright?" an anxious Yami asked from deep within his soul- room.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. I.had a nightmare, that's all."  
  
Yami, ever concerned with the well-being of his vessel and friend, began looking through Yugi's mind to see just what would frighten Yugi this much. He replayed the entire thing, taking great care not to let Yugi see it again. "I see. That is a disturbing dream. But calm yourself. It is only a dream, and I would not allow anything happen to you."  
  
Yugi smiled. "Thank you."  
  
The next morning, Yugi was sitting in his desk at school, frowning at the 46% he got on his last math test. "Note to self," he quietly said, "do not spend all night dueling, especially the night before a test." His ears pricked up, however, at the mention of Industrial Illusions by a few older kids on one side of the room.  
  
"Excuse me," he interrupted, "but did you just say 'Industrial Illusions?' As in, the company that created Duel Monsters?"  
  
"Yeah," one boy replied. "my dad always watches the news in the morning. They said that Industrial Illusions was trying to buy up all of these companies that do stuff like genetic engineering."  
  
"What would a game corporation want with a bunch of genetic engineering companies?"  
  
"That's just it: no one knows. They couldn't get anyone to say anything about it."  
  
Yugi returned to his seat, mulling this information over in his head. "Why would Pegasus be getting into genetic engineering? Does he want to clone his wife or something?"  
  
Later on, he was walking home from school, wondering how he was going to break the news about his flunked test to his Grandpa, when he passed by an electronics store, and his eye was caught by a news report.  
  
"This just in," the newscaster said, "a kidnapping has occurred here in Domino. A boy named Ryo Bakura was kidnapped from his bed last night." A picture of Bakura filled the screen as the anchorwoman continued, "If anyone has seen this boy, please call the Domino Police Department."  
  
Yugi immediately ran, non-stop, almost getting hit by a car, to Bakura's place, only to find that, indeed, his friend was gone. "Excuse me," Yugi stopped a detective taking notes about the crime scene, "I'm a friend of Bakura. What happened here?"  
  
"Well, it looks like the kidnapper busted through the window, grabbed him, and went out the same way."  
  
"Why would anyone want to kidnap Bakura?"  
  
"No idea, kid. Any number of reasons. Ransom, revenge, who knows, maybe the kidnapper just gets off on it. All we can really do is wait for someone to tip us off, or for the kidnapper himself to call us."  
  
Yugi frowned. "Okay. Thanks anyway." He slowly walked home, staring at the sidewalk. His dream from the previous night flashed back into his mind for a split second. Seeing Bakura in Relinquished's clutches, hearing Pegasus' maniacal laughter as the Pilfered Power strike was launched.  
  
From deep within the soul-room, Yami growled to himself. This whole matter stunk of Pegasus. After all, they say dreams can provide clues about one's future.  
  
Author's Note: Nice setup, eh? Seems believable to me. I know, it's a little short, but I'll try to flesh it out more in future chapters. But I won't start writing Chapter 2 until I get at least three reviews, so click that little button labeled "Go" on the bottom of this page, please! 


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